Javelin / TriMech Author
James Swackhammer
In your home, do you have a chair or a spot that only you sit in and when others sit there you seem out of place, and possibly struggle for a second with what you should do? What about a parking spot at work, do…
5 Quick Tips for SOLIDWORKS Part Template Creation
By James Swackhammer on March 17, 2023
Templates are the beginning to our design phase and are the equivalent to a cookie cutter. We want to start off on the correct foot every time, which will lead to increased efficiency and synergy throughout multiple SOLIDWORKS users. Below we will review some tips…
I learned a while back (the hard way I might add), that when it comes to sheet metal and manufacturing, to have the corners as closed/close as possible. This is necessary because it will reduce the amount of welding and fill needed. If time is…
How to Show Part Knurling in SOLIDWORKS – Part 3
By James Swackhammer on May 26, 2021
SOLIDWORKS Knurling appearance can be added on a per face basis as shown in part 2 of my SOLIDWORKS Knurling series. The knurling appearance was applied along the entire cylindrical face until the radii starts a new face. What if you don’t want the appearance…
How to Show Part Knurling in SOLIDWORKS – Part 2
By James Swackhammer on May 13, 2021
In my previous SOLIDWORKS Knurling article, I promised this process would get much easier than being thrown into the deep end like in part 1. This is a kiddie pool in comparison. What I’m going to do in part 2 is very similar to what…
How to Show Part Knurling in SOLIDWORKS – Part 1
By James Swackhammer on May 10, 2021
We all know what knurling is, right? The most common use for knurling is to add grip to an otherwise slippery part. Using this is done on a lathe, turned with special bits or tooling. Now, how do we get knurling on a SOLIDWORKS part?…
Adjusting the Weight/Mass Accuracy in a SOLIDWORKS Drawing
By James Swackhammer on April 22, 2021
In this article I’ll show how to change the numeric precision on the weight/mass linked annotation in a SOLIDWORKS drawing. If you are anything like me, you might play this game when you’re bringing your groceries in from your car, the game is: trying to…
SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2021 has some template improvements. Before these improvements were made, when making an Inspection report you would click the “Add” button for a template, same when exporting to an Excel sheet you would “Add” template and then choose where to save. This year,…
SOLIDWORKS 2021 Inspection VDA Balloons
By James Swackhammer on January 4, 2021
VDA balloons have been around for quite some time and were introduced for SOLIDWORKS in the last four to five years for SOLIDWORKS Inspection. Although, when introduced there wasn’t much functionality other than for placing them. Rotating VDA balloon For SOLIDWORKS Inspection 2021 we now…
This is personal opinion time; I think SOLIDWORKS MBD will be the new future in terms of drafting. Right now it’s a hidden gem that’s not being fully utilized. Its maximum potential has yet be realized by the mass of engineering folks. While SOLIDWORKS MBD…
SOLIDWORKS 2021 Sheet Metal Circular Edge Flange
By James Swackhammer on December 4, 2020
Colour me surprised when I read in the SOLIDWORKS 2021 What’s New Manual that we can now place Edge Flanges on circular or nonlinear edges. In the previous version this is what it looked like when we tried to select a circular edge. There was…
Does the uncapitalized “e” on eDrawings bother you, too? Well that is one change that didn’t make it in SOLIDWORKS 2021. However, there are a bunch of new improvements and one I would like to discuss is the inclusion of File Properties. Starting in 2021,…
SOLIDWORKS 2021 Adds VDA Balloons
By James Swackhammer on November 26, 2020
VDA refers to a German Quality System, generally used for the automotive industry. This is a highly recognized and respected quality management system, which requires a 90 percent compliance record for formal audits. So, we’re glad SOLIDWORKS 2021 has added these specific balloons in the…
This is the last article to wrap up our easy SOLIDWORKS cabinet design series. There will be more in the future with more advanced workflows. In this article we are going to clean up our body properties with materials, descriptions and dimensions. Currently our bodies…
In part 3 of the easy SOLIDWORKS cabinet making series we are going to add all the extra standard parts for the cabinetry like feet, hardware and a counter top. I will show you how to add parts within a part and position them properly….